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I believe I have the virus "System Restore" after visiting an iphonespy.com site (or similar). (Won't be visiting that website again!!!). I had the following error messages on my computer:

"Windows - Delayed Write Failed. Failed to save all the components for the file \System32\\00005d03. The file is corrupted or unreadable. This error may be caused by a PC hardware problem. (Cancel / Try Again) (Continue)" This one appeared 19 times!! and

"Windows detected a hard disk problem. A potential disk failure may cause loss of files, applications and documents stored on the hard disk. It's highly recommended to scan and solve HDD problems before continue [sic] using this PC (Scan and fix) (Continue)"

I also had a funny icon that I noticed had installed itself on my desktop (a blue square that I think usually means the computer does not know the file extension or program to open it with) - but I sent this to the recycle bin - the name of it is - "0.8972125852730803" and the size is 444kb. I don't know if that is related but trying to give you all the information. I then restarted the computer and the error messages reappeared on a black desktop with only the start menu accessible (however empty!).

I have McAfee Total Protection and it is always running but it did not protect me from this! I ran a virus removal scan and it found 1 virus and said it fixed the issue but gave me no further information. (This did not fix my computer - I hope it did not make things worse?).

I have followed your directions from the "remove system restore (uninstall guide). Step 4 in particular seemed to remove all the error messages I had on the screen, however, "my documents" and "C drive" seem to still be empty and there are no programs or favourites in my "start menu" and many icons on my desktop are still missing.

I got up to step 5 but my issues started with TDSSkiller. TDSSkiller will install an icon on my desktop but when I double click the icon or right click and "open" or "run as" it will not do anything. I also changed the name to iexplore.exe and still didn't work, so changed name to 123.com and it still would not launch.

I then followed the directions on the preparation guide for requesting help and here I am! I wasn't able to enable a firewall as I can't access any programs or control panel to do so. Also at step 8 when creating a GMER log I had a lot of the options greyed out and only had services, registry, files, C:\ and ADS checked. I couldn't check the rest but the ones that needed to be greyed out as per the guide, were indeed greyed out and unchecked as well. I'll paste and attach the logs below. Thank you for your help it is very much appreciated. :-)

My name is Gringo and I'll be glad to help you with your computer problems.

Somethings to remember while we are working together.

Do not run any other tool untill instructed to do so!

please Do not Attach logs or put in code boxes.

Tell me about any problems that have occurred during the fix.

Tell me of any other symptoms you may be having as these can help also.

Do not run anything while running a fix.

Do not run any other tool untill instructed to do so!

Click on the Watch Topic Button and select Immediate Notification and click on proceed, this will help you to get notified faster when I have replied and make the cleaning process faster.

Please print out or make a copy in notpad of any instructions given, as sometimes it is necessary to go offline and you will lose access to them.

Run Combofix:

You may be asked to install or update the Recovery Console(Win XP Only) if this happens please allow it to do so (you will need to be connected to the internet for this)

Before you run Combofix I will need you to turn off any security software you have running, If you do not know how to do this you can find out >here< or >here<

Combofix may need to reboot your computer more than once to do its job this is normal.

You can download Combofix from one of these links.Link 1Link 2Link 31. Close any open browsers or any other programs that are open.2. Close/disable all anti virus and anti malware programs so they do not interfere with the running of ComboFix.

Double click on combofix.exe & follow the prompts.When finished, it will produce a report for you.

Note 1: Do not mouseclick combofix's window while it's running. That may cause it to stall

Note 2: If you recieve an error "Illegal operation attempted on a registery key that has been marked for deletion." Please restart the computer

"information and logs"

In your next post I need the following

Log from Combofix

let me know of any problems you may have had

How is the computer doing now?

Gringo

I Close My Topics If You Have Not Replied In 5 Days If You Will Be Longer Please Let Me Know

If I Have Not Replied To One Of My Topics In 48 Hrs Please Bump The Topic

My help is free, however, if you wish to make a small donation to show your appreciation or to help me continue the fight against Malware, then click here --><-- Don't worry every little bit helps.

Hi Gringo. Thank you for your reply. I really appreciate it. I just realised that I forgot to back up my drive using something like Driveimage XML. Should I do this backup first before I follow your instructions above or later? Thank you, Jaye

I've run into a bit of a problem when trying to turn off my anti-virus software (McAfee Total Protection). As there were updates waiting it would not let me open the antivirus menu until I restarted my computer. I did so and now the "Windows - Delayed Write Failed" messages are back. Do I just follow your instructions above for combofix or am I back at square 1? Do I have to do the rkill again? Please let me know. Thank you so much Gringo.

Hi Gringo,
I am in the middle of running combo fix and I have the following message on my screen, "Microsoft Windows Recovery Console. This machine does not have the 'Microsoft Windows recovery console' installed. Alternatively, an existing installation of the recovery console may be present but requires updating. Without it, Combofix shall not attempt the fixing of some serious infections. Click 'Yes' to have ComboFix download/install it. NOTE: this requires an active Internet connection."

Please let me know if I should click yes or no to this message. Thank you

My computer has frozen but I managed to get the log. Just wanted to paste it on here before I restart the computer, but looks like the icons are back on my desktop that had disappeared before. I'll shut down and post again shortly with more info.

It looks like all my files are back. I ran the unhide program but I'm unsure of how to save anything to a txt file as this was what happened at the end.

A dialogue box came on the screen that said: Finished. Your files should now be visible. If you are still missing Start Menu items, please temporarily disable your Antivirus or Security programs and try again in the event that they interfered with the restoral process”.

Recently there have been vunerabilities detected in older versions of Adobe Reader. It is strongly suggested that you update to the current version.

You can download it from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.htmlAfter installing the latest Adobe Reader, uninstall all previous versions.If you already have Adobe Photoshop® Album Starter Edition installed or do not wish to have it installed UNcheck the box which says Also Download Adobe Photoshop® Album Starter Edition.

If you don't like Adobe Reader (53 MB), you can download Foxit PDF Reader(7 MB) from here. It's a much smaller file to download and uses a lot less resources than Adobe Reader.

Note: When installing FoxitReader, be carefull not to install anything to do with AskBar.[/list]Your Java is out of date.

Note:Save your work. TFC will automatically close any open programs, let it run uninterrupted. It shouldn't take longer take a couple of minutes, and may only take a few seconds. Only if needed will you be prompted to reboot.

Note: If MBAM encounters a file that is difficult to remove, you will be presented with 1 of 2 prompts.Click OK to either and let MBAM proceed with the disinfection process.If asked to restart the computer, please do so immediately. Failure to reboot will prevent MBAM from removing all the malware.

Double-click on the HijackThis Installer icon on your desktop. (Vista and Win 7 right click and run as admin)

By default it will install to C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\HijackThis .

Click on Install.

It will create a HijackThis icon on the desktop.

Once installed it will launch Hijackthis.

Click on the Do a system scan and save a logfile button. It will scan and the log should open in notepad.

Click on Edit > Select All then click on Edit > Copy to copy the entire contents of the log.

Come back here to this thread and Paste the log in your next reply.

DO NOT use the AnalyseThis button its findings are dangerous if misinterpreted.

DO NOT have Hijackthis fix anything yet. Most of what it finds will be harmless or even required.

If you have problems running Hijackthis.

sometimes we have to run it like this To run HijackThis as an administrator,rightclick HijackThis.exe (located: C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\HiJackThis\HiJackThis.exe)and select to run as administrator

"information and logs"

In your next post I need the following

Log From MBAM

report from Hijackthis

let me know of any problems you may have had

How is the computer doing now?

Gringo

I Close My Topics If You Have Not Replied In 5 Days If You Will Be Longer Please Let Me Know

If I Have Not Replied To One Of My Topics In 48 Hrs Please Bump The Topic

My help is free, however, if you wish to make a small donation to show your appreciation or to help me continue the fight against Malware, then click here --><-- Don't worry every little bit helps.